1. The student will describe the economic, social, and geographic impact of the growth of big business and technological innovations after Reconstruction.
Standard 11

2. a. Explain the impact of the railroads on other industries, such as steel, and on the organization of big business.

3. Impact of Railroads
The railroads were the biggest customers for the steel industry
Thousands of miles of steel track were laid.
The railroads had a great impact on the steel industry

4. Impact of Railroads
To supply their biggest customers, steel producers developed cheap, efficient methods for the mass production of steel rails
These low-cost methods enabled more industries to afford the steel companies’ products

5. Impact of Railroads Other industries were also impacted Example:
The Pullman Sleeping Car
Was developed for the comfort of long distance travelers
These cars needed:
Glass for windows/cloth for seats/wood was needed for the car construction/bedding for the sleepers/a myriad other smaller fittings to hold the entire car together

7. Impact of Railroads To increase train safety
Signal systems were developed
Better braking systems were invented
National time zones were created

9. Big Business
The railroads were the single largest business in the United States
It changed the way businesses were organized
Huge amounts of capital were needed to create and maintain a nation-wide business
This capital was acquired through both public (i.e., government) and private investments

10. Big Business
Large professionally trained managerial staffs were needed to keep up with:
Passengers
Cargo
Equipment

11. Big Business
New means of accounting were created to track the large efficiencies needed for railroads to be
Efficient
Cost effective
Profitable

12. Big Business
Internal organization led in turn to the consolidation of the many railroads
This was especially true as economic panics caused less profitable lines to collapse and were absorbed by larger, more profitable firms

13. b. Describe the impact of the railroads in the development of the West; include the transcontinental railroad, and the use of Chinese labor.

14. Immigrant Labor and the Railroads
The construction of the transcontinental railroad would not have been possible without:
A large labor supply of immigrant labor
The public investment in railroads by land grants and guaranteed construction costs

15. Immigrant Labor and the Railroads
Irish and German laborers constructed the rail route from east to west
The owners of the Central Pacific Railroad initially brought European immigrants from the east
Had trouble keeping them working due to the proximity of the gold fields
Were building the line from California

16. Immigrant Labor and the Railroads
The owners hired available Chinese labor in California and then brought in additional Chinese labor to complete the task
Were paid approximately $28-$35 per month
Compared to $50 the European worker earned
Were doing very dangerous work of blasting and laying ties over the treacherous terrain of the high Sierras

17. Immigrant Labor and the Railroads
Lived in simple dwellings and cooked their own meals
Often consisting of:
Fish
Dried oysters
Fruit
Mushrooms
Seaweed

18. Immigrant Labor and the Railroads
The work was dangerous
Many died in:
The explosive blasts they ignited to cut the solid rock roadbed
Under landslides and heavy snowfalls
The first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869

19. The Railroad and Expansion
The federal government granted vast areas of western land to railroad owners
Railroad right-of-ways were 10 miles wide, plus 400 feet
So the railroads could sell the land to help finance the cost of construction
The railroad companies contributed to the development of the West by selling low-cost parcels of their western land for farming

20. The Railroad and Expansion
Settlers traveled west on the trains to farm on the fertile soil
Western farmers used the trains to ship their grain east
Western cattle ranchers shipped their steers to eastern butchers

21. The Railroad and Expansion
Both farmers and ranchers sold their goods to people they could not easily reach without railroads
The railroads earned money by transporting the settlers west and the goods east

24. c. Identify John D. Rockefeller and the Standard Oil Company and the rise of trusts and monopolies.

25. Rise of Trusts and Monopolies
The period after the Civil War was a time when business concerns sought to maximize their profits by combining competing corporations into single entities
These large companies would be able to control:
Prices
Production
Sales
Establish a monopoly

26. Rise of Trusts and Monopolies
There were several individuals in this era who are known for the monopolies they created
These include:
Andrew Carnegie (steel)
Cornelius Vanderbilt (railroads)
Jay Gould (railroads)
J.P. Morgan (banking and finance)

27. John D. Rockefeller Rockefeller was known for his: Economy Precision
Foresight
in creating one of America’s landmark corporations-Standard Oil

28. John D. Rockefeller
After obtaining a degree in business, Rockefeller started out a book-keeper and clerk in a wholesale grain and produce business in Cleveland, Ohio in 1855.
His diligence and hard work won him great admiration.
His idea of thrift gave him the capital to start his own wholesale grain business in the early 1860’s.

29. John D. Rockefeller
Rockefeller realized that the growth of agriculture in the upper Mississippi Valley would eclipse Cleveland’s role in grain sales
He foresaw Cleveland’s location could serve a clearinghouse for raw materials
The newest commodity gaining in popularity and usage was oil
In 1863 Rockefeller entered the oil refining business

30. John D. Rockefeller Oil had been discovered in Pennsylvania in 1859
In order for the oil to usable it needed to be refined into a distilled spirit—kerosene
Rockefeller began by developing a business that transported petroleum products
Cut costs by:
Creating his own a barrel-making factory
Had is own horses and wagons to transport the petroleum products to market

31. John D. Rockefeller
His practice was what is known today as vertical consolidation
Creating a monopoly that consists of all elements of production from raw material to sale of the finished product

32. John D. Rockefeller In 1870 Rockefeller created Standard Oil
He began to buy up inefficient refineries
He closed those that were too expensive to renovate and improving those that showed promise
By 1879 Standard Oil controlled 90% of the refining capacity in the United States

33. John D. Rockefeller
When railroads proved inefficient for his needs he built a pipeline from the oil fields to the refinery
In1882, Rockefeller combined his many companies into the Standard Oil Trust

35. The Trust Stockholders turn their shares over to a board of trustees
They control and managed the different companies as a single company in order to achieve greater efficiencies
Divide the profit up among the shareholders
Enabled Standard Oil to monopolize all aspects of the oil industry
From production to marketing
In 1890 the Standard Oil Trust was broken up by the Ohio Supreme Court

36. Other Business Practices
Pools (another early business combination practice) and Trusts were outlawed
Interstate Commerce Act (1887)
Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1892)

37. Other Business Practices
Holding Companies
When a parent company holds enough stock in smaller (competing) companies to be able to control the management and running of the smaller company

38. Other Business Practices
Interlocking Directorates
When one or more persons serves on the board of directors of several companies and thereby able to control the competing companies through his or her actions on each board

39. Other Business Practices
Mergers
The consolidation of two competing companies into a single trading company

40. d. Describe the inventions of Thomas Edison; include the electric light bulb, motion pictures, and the phonograph, and their impact on American life.

41. Thomas Edison
The effects of technological advances made after Reconstruction forever changed how people lived
The most famous inventor of the period is Thomas Edison
Invented the electric light bulb, the phonograph, motion pictures, a system for distributing electrical power, and many other technologies powered by electricity

42. Thomas Edison Established the concept of industrial research
Founded a research laboratory staffed by engineers and technicians in New Jersey
Edison’s technological achievements were used by other inventors
As evidenced by the development of long-distance electricity transmission
Which enabled Edison’s electric light to illuminate buildings, streets, and neighborhoods across the United States

43. Thomas Edison Electricity soon replaced:
Steam as the source of power for factories
Horses as the means to power streetcars
Humans as the source of power for household appliances

44. Thomas Edison
Edison’s inventions eliminated much manual labor that had been associated with everyday household activities and improved Americans’ quality of life